Any good recipes for steak & ale pie from shortbread pastry? simple please as i've never baked before?

Answer 1

You said simple, right ??!

Use about a kilo of diced steak (really, any would do)
Fry in a pan, as to just seal the sides. (so don't fully cook)
Chuck that into a pot, along with salt, pepper, diced onion, garlic and a spoon full of tomato paste. Add one pint of ale, guinness great, and enough water to just cover the steak. Cover and cook of about 2 hours, or till steak is nice and tender. To thicken the lot, just add maggi gravy powder to it. Let it cool down a bit before you put the pastry on.

For the pastry, well just buy it. Cover the steak pie mix with the pastry(which by the way should by now not be in a pot anymore but in the dish you want to serve it in :) .....

In the middle of the pastry, make a little hole, so that you can see the steak pie mix. The hole need to be no bigger that a 5p. This help the steam to go out, and will prevent the pastry from going soggy. In the oven, at about 180degrees of about 1 hour or till pastry is golden. Use some of the left over pastry to make a little "garnish" whether a circle, a diamond shape or a flower or what ever you fancy, and also bake till golden. Once your steak pie comes out of the oven, the garnish thingy can go on top of the steam hole you made and bob's your uncle.

Answer 2

For the pastry
750g/1lb 6oz plain flour
375g/13oz margarine or butter
2 eggs, beaten
pinch of salt
cold water

For the filling
1kg/2lb 2oz diced stewing steak
250g/9oz diced ox kidneys
250g/9oz quartered mushrooms
2 litres beef stock
1/2 pint/300ml of rich, dark ale
200g/7oz flour
2 tbsp vegetable oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper




Heat the oil in a saucepan, then add the beef and kidneys. Stir with a wooden spoon, allowing the meat to brown and the juices to ooze from the beef. Continue cooking until all the juices have reduced, then cover with the stock, reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the pastry. In a large bowl or food processor, add the flour, margarine and salt and blend to a fine sandy texture. Add the eggs and water and form into a firm but not over dry pastry. On a floured surface, roll out half the pastry to around 3mm thick and line a lightly oiled 10-inch round pie dish.

After 1 hour of simmering the meat, check it is tender. If tender, drain, saving any remaining stock. Add the flour and stir into the beef. Return to a low heat, stirring continually for 5 minutes to cook the flour.

Add the beer and enough stock to cover the meat. Add the mushrooms, season to taste and simmer on a low heat for 15-20 minutes more.

Preheat the oven to 180C (Gas mark 6). Transfer the prepared filling to the pastry-lined dish, and with cold water moisten the pastry edge. Roll out the other half of the pastry and lay across the top of the pie. Press down gently to seal the pastry, crimp the join and trim off excess pastry from the outside of the dish.

Brush the top with beaten egg, make four incisions to allow steam to escape and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour until the pastry is cooked and the top is golden brown.


Good luck!

Answer 3

Get a nice nicely marbled steak (one per person, they can be the thin sliced minute steaks - just need to be nice ones - the marbling will add flavor and keep the meat moist). Dice the meat to equal sized pieces, about 1/2 inch cubes (the width of your thumb tip).

Fresh mushrooms, finely sliced; as many or few as you want
One carrot per person; peeled, diced into 1/4 inch cubes.
Two or three finely diced shallots or one small onion diced - more if making for several people

***

In a hot pan with a small amount of oil, add the meat and stir until evenly browned. Add the rest of the ingredients and sweat them all down until shallot/onion is tender and translucent.

When all is ready, sprinkle with a packet of Beef & Ale gravy mix, stir thoroughly. Add the measure of water as called for on the packet and simmer, covered, while you prepare the baking dish as follows.

Roll out any shortcrust dough (already prepared & rolled is perfectly acceptable!). Lightly dust the bottom of the casserole dish with some flour and cover with a bottom crust for the pie. [Note: a bottom crust is optional, you can just fill the baking dish with the meat filling and continue to next step, the top crust.]

Add the simmering filling, cover with a second crust and crimp the top and bottom crust together to keep the filling from leaking. [If only one crust, crimp the crust to the edge of the baking dish.] Be sure to poke holes in the top crust to allow steam to escape.

In a small bowl, beat an egg and brush it over the crust. This is known as an egg wash. It will add a glossy finish to the pastry as well as brown nicely and is much more attractive than a plainly baked crust. (Use an egg wash for any two-crust pie, savory or fruit.)

Place the casserole on a foil covered baking tray to make it easier to manage in and out of the oven.

Bake in a preheated 325 degree F (gas mark 3) oven for approximately 40-50 minutes for a one-crust casserole, 50-60 minutes for a two-crust pie. Be sure to check on it and if the crust is getting too browned or dried out, cover with foil.

Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Suggested side dishes; mashed potatoes and yorkshire puds.

Answer 4

I would buy ready made pastry and chuck the beef (browned) onions, veg and ale in a slow cooker, when cooked down add the mix to the pastry, top with either stilton mash or more pastry! it's lovely!

Answer 5

Do any recipe for the filling and then cheat, buy the pastry and just lay it on top after you have cooked it.